(Warming: If you don't like bathroom stories, don't read, contains graphic descriptions)
This winter has been brutal on us! Philip has been sick with one thing or another for 4 months. He has been getting 2x weekly blood draws and finally can stretch them to 1x week. His white blood cell count (Neutrophils) has returned to the normal range so he can finally go back to school. Unfortunately, for the past 3.5 weeks, he's been having diarrhea. Yes that's right, 3 weeks! So no school yet for him till we figure it out because the personal hygiene skills of a 3 year old is not something I want to subject his classmates to! lol
I think it's finally slowing down and he tries his best to run to the bathroom, but I really thing he now enjoys the look on my face when he announces that he has sharted, and proceeds to check thing out and say Aww it's so cute! 😳 (Maybe its the fact that I'm a sucker for potty humor and can't contain my laughter when he does this) My silly boy!
It's getting frustrating because I have been putting him in a pull up because I'm done cleaning poo and anything that gets soiled goes in the trash at his point. I don't want him to regress too much with the potty training.
Anyway, his doctors requested some tests to see if we can see what is going on...
My friends, I pray you never have to collect a stool specimen from your child.
(Gag)I was lucky enough to have to do it twice in the last 3 weeks. (Gag)
Convince Philip to actually sit on the "hat" in the toilet and then (Gag) pour it into
4, yes 4, separate cups(Gag). And then bring it to the lab. (Gag) So I hid it in a paper bag so no one would have to endure looking at that shit(haha) Your Welcome, fellow waiting room patients. Not to mention the lady at the lab couldn't stop laughing at he fact that I was holding it only between my two fingers out away from my body the whole time.
Anyway...
His doctors were concerned it could be something called C Diff. because he had been on many antibiotics in the past.
Clostridium difficile [klo–strid–ee–um dif–uh–seel] (C. difficile) is a bacterium that causes inflammation of the colon, known as colitis. People who have other illnesses or conditions requiring prolonged use of antibiotics, and the elderly, are at greater risk of acquiring this disease. The bacteria are found in the feces. People can become infected if they touch items or surfaces that are contaminated with feces and then touch their mouth or mucous membranes. Healthcare workers can spread the bacteria to patients or contaminate surfaces through hand contact. Clostridium difficile is shed in feces. Any surface, device, or material (e.g., toilets, bathing tubs, and electronic rectal thermometers) that becomes contaminated with feces may serve as a reservoir for the Clostridium difficile spores. Clostridium difficile spores are transferred to patients mainly via the hands of healthcare personnel who have touched a contaminated surface or item. Clostridium difficile can live for long periods on surfaces.
(https://www.cdc.gov/hai/organisms/cdiff/cdiff-patient.html)
Good news is they all came back negative! Both times.
They believe it could be viral and because he was neutropenic for a while it is taking him just that much longer to get rid of the bug.
During this time his blood also tested positive for EBV. It was a very low level but still there.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), also known as human herpesvirus 4, is a member of the herpes virus family. It is one of the most common human viruses. EBV is found all over the world. Most people get infected with EBV at some point in their lives. EBV spreads most commonly through bodily fluids, primarily saliva. EBV can cause infectious mononucleosis, also called mono, and other illnesses.
(https://www.cdc.gov/epstein-barr/about-ebv.html)
EBV can cause some issues down the road if his levels don't go away again. They routinely monitor for this and they basically expected him to get it because most people do get infected at some point in their lives. He could have been exposed or Dan could have had it and it was in the organ when transplanted. Totally expected though.
To treat this, they lowered his immune suppression medicine, so his body had a chance to fight it.
And it did! His last blood work on Monday came back non detected for EBV. So hopefully the level stays undetectable from now on.
Philip remains a very happy kid. The diarrhea doesn't phase him one bit. He is happy go lucky and very funny. We are anxiously awaiting Spring when hopefully all these nasty viruses can go away and we can enjoy going back to our normal routine again. Philip misses school!
